DOUBLE - CHOC BROWNIE CAKE
This started out as a quick indulgent dessert for Steve’s son Theo’s birthday, and it went down so well that we decided to experiment with it. Chocolate mousse in the middle and on top makes it even more of a party cake!
FOR THE CAKE
100g ground almonds 150g white flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 25g cacao powder 1 teaspoon sea salt 150g coconut oil 250ml maple syrup 50ml rice milk 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
FOR THE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
icing cold water a handful of ice 200g dark chocolate 150ml boiling water
FOR THE FILLING
100g yoghurt of choice (we like coconut) 125g fresh raspberries
1. Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3. Line a brownie tray/high-sided baking tray with baking parchment.
2. Sift the ground almonds, flour, baking powder, cacao powder and salt into a large mixing bowl, and stir everything together.
3. Melt the coconut oil in a small saucepan over a high heat. Remove from the heat and add the maple syrup, rice milk and vanilla extract. Mix well, then make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients from the saucepan. Mix well – it should result in a very wet brownie batter.
4. Pour the brownie batter into your prepared tin so hat it is about 3cm deep, and bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove and leave to cool.
5. Now make the chocolate mousse. Get two metal or plastic bowls, one a bit smaller than the other one. Into the larger one, put the handful of ice and about the same volume of cold water.
6. Chop the dark chocolate into small pieces, put into the second bowl and pour the boiling water over. Using a whisk, stir continuously until the chocolate has all melted and it’s like a hot chocolate.
7. Take the bowl of melted chocolate and place this bowl inside the bowl of ice and water. Stir continuously for 3–5 minutes. The ice bath lowers the temperature of the chocolate, allowing the cacao butter to harden and emulsify with the water, resulting in an amazing moussey texture! Stir until the chocolate sticks to the whisk without falling when you hold it above the bowl.